HAVERHILL — Residents face having to dig deeper into their pockets to pay for water and sewer service in the coming year.
Water Superintendent Robert Ward is asking the City Council to raise the average water bill by 17 percent and the average sewer bill by 27 percent. He said the jumps are necessary to raise money for increased costs for things like electricity, fuel and chemicals to treat drinking water.
Ward said the average customer using the city system pays $212 a year for water and $250 for sewer service. His proposal would increase that water bill to $247 and the sewer bill to $318, he said.
If the council approves the increases, Ward said he hopes to freeze the rates at those levels for the next three years.
The council received the request this week as part of Ward's proposed budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1. The council is having a series of reviews of proposed budgets for city departments, and will vote on them sometime before July.
Council President Michael Hart said some councilors don't like the idea of increasing rates with so many residents already having a hard time with the economy.
"But at the same time, if they don't (raise the fees) the water and sewer won't have enough to run the department and provide services the public wants and needs," he said.
There is a way to exempt the elderly and poor from the proposed rate increases, but that would mean other residents would have to pay even more of the increase, Hart said.
Ward said his department dealt with increased costs last year by spending reserve money, but there is not enough extra money available this year, so he proposes increasing the rates.
He said besides increases in the price of electricity, fuel and chemicals, the Water Department faces more spending to meet tougher state and federal rules involving the inspections of dams in reservoirs and making sure the city's old sewer system doesn't allow sewage to overflow into water drainage during storms.
"We're facing significant increases," Ward said. "They don't care that it all comes out of the same pocket."
He said a study of Haverhill's rates shows they rank about average among rates in Merrimack Valley communities.
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